Home in Time for Christmas

  “Well, that never improved,” George said. “I spent time in Nam. Oh—does he know about Vietnam?” George asked, looking at his children.

  “Full Metal Jacket,” Jake said. “Keith tried to catch me up on history. Sad thing is, we more or less went war by war.”

  “But good things happened, too,” Melody said. “We had amazing characters rise up during the course of history. Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King—

  “And you saw The Defiance,” Melody continued. “Just plain old people—living off the land and not known for their heroics—turn around and save the lives of hundreds through sheer will. Human nature is what it is, but there’s so much good in it! This isn’t a bad age in which to live. Okay, so maybe we’re all afraid now and then that someone is going to go mad and touch a nuclear button and the whole thing will blow up. But it’s an exciting time, too, the world is still trying to solve the differences in peoples, and the world seems so small now that it must happen.”

  “I like the world,” Jake said. “That’s never been in question.”

  The meal went on. Turkey and all the fixings. Pumpkin and blueberry pie. The sun began to fall in the western sky.

  It was day, but George turned on all the Christmas lights.

  Hand in hand, Melody stood with Jake in front of the house as he stared at the colors of the twinkling lights, and admired them.

  They were still there, standing in silence, when Mona said it was time.

  They all retired to back of the house, near the well.

  She could aim! Good God, could the woman aim!

  Mark felt the snowball crack him dead center in the chest.

  “Minx!” he accused Serena. He reached down to form a snowball. The snow was beautiful, soft and new. It hadn’t been rendered to pure slush by the tires of a zillion cars.

  Another snowball hit him before he could even form his own. This one off his left shoulder.

  “Hey!” he protested. He had snow in his hands, at least. He ducked his head and went running for his enemy, knocking Serena down into the snow and dropping his small snowball upon her.

  “Not fair at all!” she sputtered, laughing up at him.

  Eyes so blue.

  So much laughter in them as they touched his.

  But her smile faded. “The sun. Look at the sun. We’ve got to go and get ready.”

  Melody watched as her father and brother set up the wave machines on either side of the well.

  Mona had prepared more of her potion.

  They watched as the sun continue its slow fall down the western horizon.

  She gripped Jake’s hand suddenly. “Jake, what if Mark is just lost? You were supposed to fall from a hangman’s noose back into your own house.”

  “Well,” he said dryly, “I did fall near my house.”

  “Yes, but more than two centuries later.”

  “An amazing detour,” he told her softly.

  “I’m frightened, Jake. Terrified, really. We don’t actually know where Mark is. We don’t even know if he’s lost in time and space somewhere. What if something is wrong with the black hole, or the black door, or whatever it is? Jake, you could wind up in a strange limbo. And we’ll never know. My God, once you’re gone, we may never know. And Mark could just be lost out there, as well.”

  “Shh,” he said, his hands cradling her face as he looked down into her eyes. “Melody, I have no choice. I have to believe in Serena. She did save me from the hangman’s noose. And I came here. Sometimes, we have to believe.” He offered her a crooked grin. “It’s Christmastime. Isn’t that what Christmastime is all about? Faith and belief. I can’t see Mark or my sister right now, but I have to believe that they’re all right. Serena is the magician in the family. I have to believe that she’ll know what she’s doing as well, that she’ll have Mark, waiting to come home. She wrote about the sunrise and sunset, so she will know. It will be all right, Melody. I swear. It will be all right.”

  “What if you go back in time, and wind up in a hangman’s noose again?” she whispered.

  “I will not,” he said firmly.

  He tilted her chin with one hand and very tenderly kissed her lips. “Mona?” he said.

  Mona offered him a cup with trembling hands. Jake kissed her cheek and said a sincere “Thank you” to her.

  He walked over to George. They started to shake hands, but then they engulfed one another in a hug.

  It was Keith’s turn.

  “I’ll always remember you, as if I had been lucky enough to have a brother,” Jake told him.

  Keith nodded. “You’re a cool dude, Jake. Wish you could have stayed longer. I’d have liked to learn to play something…guitar, violin, flute.”

  “You can learn without me.”

  “Won’t be the same. Safe journey,” Keith said.

  Jake nodded, stepped between the wave machines in front of the well and lifted the cup to his lips.

  Melody couldn’t stand it. She had to have one last goodbye.

  She raced toward Jake.

  “Melody!” he mother cried.

  But she ran into Jake’s arms. And when she kissed his lips, she could taste the strange sweet and tart herbs of her mother’s potion.

  There was a sizzle in the air.

  A pop, and then the air itself moved, as if heat were rising off pavement in Arizona in the dead of summer.

  Melody closed her eyes, trying to remember the feel of him, the warmth of the man who had held her, the scent of him, the vitality of his being and the liquid wonder of his kiss…

  Suddenly, it was dark—and brilliantly white at the same time.

  She blinked, looking around. The force of whatever had happened had knocked her on her rear. She was sitting in a pile of pure white snow, so clean it dazzled in the dying light like diamond stars in a midnight-velvet sky.

  Something was different. It was colder.

  The house was before her, but there were no lights.

  Then she heard the angry female voice.

  “No, no, no! Oh, no! Who, in the name of our dearest Lord, are you?”

  So much for poignant goodbyes.

  One minute, Jake had been holding her. He had tasted that last kiss…

  Then, he was holding air.

  Melody was gone.

  And he was standing right where he had been all along. And George and Mona were staring at him. No. They were staring to his side.

  Mark was there.

  “I’m back,” Mark said. He looked at Jake. “I’m back—and you’re still here. What the hell?”

  “Oh, no,” Keith said, the words escaping him as they might a deflated balloon.

  “Melody!” Mona said, and sank down to the ground as her knees buckled beneath her.

  “Mom, Mom, hey, it’s—it’s all right!” Keith said, rushing to his mother’s side.

  George was standing there, staring at the place where his daughter had been.

  Jake hurried over to George. “It is all right. We’re going to get her back.”

  George shook his head. “My baby,” he said. “My girl.”

  “George, we’re going to get her back!” Jake said firmly.

  “My baby. My daughter. My girl,” George said.

  Mona couldn’t stand. Keith was trying to help her, to get her into the house. Jake gave George a little shake. “George, we have time. We’re going to get her back. Do you understand? We’re going to get her back. That’s all there is to it.”

  “This was all there was to it,” George said.

  “She couldn’t let you go,” George whispered. “She couldn’t let you go, and now she’s gone.”

  Jake looked at Mark. Mark shook his head and gripped George by the shoulders. “George, it’s going to be all right. Look at me. I’m back. We just have to quit messing with the lines or the waves or whatever the hell they are. Look at me. I’m fine. I’m better than fine. I’ve gone back. I’ve seen the past—”

  “Serena?” Jake asked hi
m anxiously.

  “Alive and well, and back in the house. There was chaos when you disappeared from the noose. Friends got her out of the city. She’s fine, I swear.”

  “Let’s get in the house,” Jake suggested.

  “I’ll get George’s wave machines back into his lab,” Mark said. “Good thinking.”

  Jake led George toward the house. Keith was getting his mother inside.

  In the family room, they both sat on the couch. They both just stared ahead, looking shell-shocked.

  “I’ll get—I’ll get a couple of shots of whiskey,” Keith said.

  He left Jake with his parents. Jake sat down in front of Mona. “Mona. Mona, please, look at me!” he said.

  Her eyes lifted to his. They began to fill with tears. She reached out and touched his face. “Jake, it’s not that we don’t care about you, we do. But…that’s our baby. Where is she? We have to get her back, oh, dear God, we just have to get her back.”

  “We’re going to get her back,” he swore.

  “We’re running out of time,” she said. “Sunrise, sunset. Then Christmas will be over. I read the book that your sister left. It’s all that we have.”

  “And we’ll make it work,” Jake promised.

  “We just botched the hell out of that transfer!” Mona said.

  Keith returned, shoving a glass into his mother’s hands. “Mom. Come on, Mom. You honest to God have to snap out of it, Mom. You have to make more potion again. And we didn’t botch anything. We didn’t count on just how much Jake meant to Melody. She had to have her one last goodbye.”

  “But where is she? What if she doesn’t know that she has to be in a certain place, and that certain things have to happen? Oh, my God, dear God, what will we do without her?” Mona whispered.

  Jake heard someone clear his throat; he turned around. Mark was back in the house. He took the seat between Mona and George on the sofa.

  “Jake is right. Everyone must seriously get a grip. I know where Melody is, and she is just fine. She is in this house. Or in the backyard, just where we were. She’s there, and she’s safe, and she’ll know everything. I was privileged to be there. Jake’s sister, Serena, is wise and beautiful, and Melody is going to be fine with her for the night. First thing, we get back out there in the morning, and we do everything one more time. Jake will go back where he belongs, and Melody will be back here. And we won’t regret anything of it. Mona, George, it’s fascinating. Melody will actually get to see and feel and touch the past—how many artists ever get such an opportunity?”

  Mona stared at him with wide eyes. “She’s kind—she’s truly kind, Jake’s sister?”

  “Of course she’s kind!” Jake said, a bit indignant.

  “Kind, brilliant and beautiful,” Mark said.

  “We all must be strong and see this through,” Jake said firmly.

  “I have to make more potion,” Mona said.

  “I have to check my machines,” George said faintly. He cleared his throat. “I have to check my machines,” he said more firmly.

  “Good idea, Dad,” Keith said. “We are going to get her back.”

  George stood. He started for the back door, but he hesitated, then came back. He stopped in front of his wife, caught her hands and pulled her to her feet. He started to speak, but didn’t. He just pulled her into his arms and held her.

  Then George went out the back door and Mona headed to the kitchen.

  Jake, Keith and Mark were left in the family room, staring glumly at one another.

  “I understand,” Keith said, and Jake saw that he was trembling. Keith looked at him. “I understand how you felt. My sister…my best friend. Now…now I understand how you felt.”

  “Look,” Mark said, standing impatiently. “Melody is fine. Trust me. I was with Serena. She is fierce and bright, and has a will and an energy to make everything right. We all have to quit acting as if this is the end of the world. It’s going to be a tough night, but in the morning, everything is going to be rectified.”

  Keith nodded. “That’s what we have to believe.”

  “It’s not just belief. It’s what will be,” Jake said firmly.

  Mark grinned suddenly. “Great. Were you all this upset when I disappeared?”

  Keith and Jake looked at one another. “Melody was horrified—she was determined that you had to come home.”

  “Melody doesn’t care about me. I’ve faced the fact,” Mark said.

  Keith shook his head. “She knew you two couldn’t make a marriage work. To Melody, marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t care about you, Mark.”

  “She cares about you a great deal, Mark,” Jake assured him.

  Mark smiled. “Your sister cares about you, too. I thought she was going to beat me to a pulp for not being you.”

  “Serena is rather amazing,” Jake agreed. “And she does know how to take care of herself, but…it’s a hard life. There’s so much work to be done. There are so many dangers out there, in the woods. A woman should never be alone out there.”

  “Here,” Keith said.

  “What?” Jake asked.

  “Here, she’s actually here. I think. In a different dimension, or time, or wave, or whatever,” Keith said.

  “Very different,” Jake said. “There is no electricity, and logs have to be cut for heat. She’s tough. Serena is tough. But when I left to go to war, I did so with a heavy heart. We had neighbors—but not like now. The nearest neighbor was about a mile away. In this day and age, it’s easy. Or different. As far as day-to-day living goes. We were far more dependent upon one another.”

  “She needs someone, I see that so clearly,” Mark said. “Serena, for all her strength, needs someone.”

  As they all sat there morosely, Brutus came click-clacking in, heading straight to Jake for some attention. “Brutus,” he said. “In my time, poor Brutus might not have made it.”

  “But your time was better,” Mark said with enthusiasm. “The house, surrounded by nothing but beautiful, pristine snow. And people, making home their lives, their real lives!”

  “Actually,” Jake said, “isn’t life what we make it, wherever we are, whenever we may be—wherever it is that we are?”

  “I miss my sister, and I want her back,” Keith said.

  “Oh, no. Oh, no. This is starting to get truly frightening,” Serena said.

  She had helped Melody out of the snow. Shivering, they had returned to the house together, and Melody had tried very hard to explain just what had happened, which was difficult, because she didn’t understand it herself.

  “So, your father was working his end, and I was working my end. Mark made it back to the proper time, but instead of Jake coming home—I got you,” Serena said.

  “Excuse me, it wasn’t my plan to show up here,” Melody told her.

  “You just touched my brother?” Serena said. “There is no logic to what occurred. I mean, it does make sense that the door allows for only one person, perhaps. But why you appeared here simply by touching him.”

  “It was a bit more than a touch,” Melody said.

  “Oh?”

  Melody hesitated. “I care very deeply about Jake. I kissed him goodbye.”

  “Oh,” Serena said. “Then you kissed him, and you had the potion on your lips.”

  “Yes, your brother drank the potion, too,” answered Melody.

  “I don’t have the answers, but I’m assuming you were closest to the door, or the hole, or whatever it is that allows the potions to work,” Serena said.

  “I’m sorry. Truly sorry,” Melody said.

  “We’ll have to rectify the situation in the morning. I’m quite certain your family must be planning the same.”

  “So you know about my family?”

  “I had quite an interesting discussion with Mark Hathaway,” Serena explained. She sighed. “He’s in love with you, you know.”

  “He would hate me in a month, were we to marry,” Melody told
her. “He’s extremely old-fashioned. He believes that wives should stay home, cook, clean and watch after the children.”

  “And that’s unusual?” Serena asked, looking confused.

  Melody laughed softly. “Oh, Serena! It takes a very long time, but eventually slavery ends through bloody battle. All Americans get the vote—even women. Everything didn’t become one big peace rally—no government can stamp out inbred hate or that which is learned from others—but after World War II, when women had gone out to work while the men were at war—”

  “World War II?” Serena interrupted.

  Of course, Melody thought. Serena hadn’t gotten barraged with a series of CDs. The history Jake had gotten might have been a bit fractured, but it was a decent synopsis of the years gone by.

  “World War II, yes,” Melody said.

  “The entire world went to war—and then did it again?” Serena asked.

  Melody nodded. “Most of the world, let’s say. We pray now that there will never be a World War III—with the weapons we can now produce, we could blow up the globe.”

  Serena shivered. They both sat in silence for a few minutes.

  “So, now, women work, and men stay home?” Serena asked.

  “Sometimes. But most frequently now, both partners work, and both partners share responsibility for raising the children and tending the house. Choice is what we hope for—I have friends who want to stay home, and I believe that keeping a house and raising children can certainly be hard work. My mom was a nurse, though, and between her and my dad, we did very well. I adore them both. My mom usually cooks, but when she wants to go out, my dad assures her that he is capable of opening a can and using a microwave.”

  “A microwave?”

  “It cooks things very quickly,” Melody explained briefly.

  “But I’m sorry, I’m still confused. Mark loves you, wanted to marry you, and take care of you and provide for you—and that was a bad thing?” Serena asked.

  “No. But I’m an artist. A good one, I believe. I love to sketch, but I also love to paint—I want to see what I can create. I want children and I want a home. But I want a husband who wants to share all those responsibilities. Do you understand? And then, too…I don’t know. I cared about Mark. I do care about Mark. I was horrified by what I had done to him. Well, I didn’t do it, but his association with my family made him determined to…prove that you couldn’t go through time.”